Home ...At Last!

this is just a quick update to let everyone know that I got home from MMC at about 4:30 this afternoon!! So glad to be home and see my babies (the cats) again-although 1 is snubbing me right now! Aaron ran to the drug store to pick up the SIX new prescriptions now added to my morning routine--thank God for insurance but it still gets up there when you get so many at once. I'm exhausted, and plan to be flip side very soon under my favorite blanket napping--but I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone for their cards, phone calls,visits, flowers etc. The past 12 days were hard but I've got a great support system. Thanks again--it's good to be back among the land of the living!!

another test

Nancy will be having an endoscopy this morning in a continuing effort to address her almost-constant nausea. She was supposed to have her fourth chemo. in this series yesterday at the hospital but Dr. Small postponed it until these tests could be completed. She may still receive the chemo in the next few days, either with the Doxil or a different drug. She is in amazingly good spirits considering all that she is going through and has appreciated all the cards and visits. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers and I'll continue to keep everyone posted as to how she's doing through the blog.

Nancy Update

Nancy is still at MMC. Her kidneys have cleared up but she is still very nauseous. The doctors did a number of tests yesterday and today (chest X-ray, CT scan, Ultrasound) and Nancy is awaiting the results. Hopefully, they will pinpoint the cause of her discomfort so that it can be treated and she can come home soon.

We Made It!

We made it home today with our new Casita in tow...picked it up in Rice, Texas, just south of Dallas, Thursday morning and drove 2000 miles back to Maine in four days. Here are a few photos from the road.

Hank at the Casita factory bright and early Thursday morning...after four months of waiting, it's finally our pick-up day!

On the road from Dallas to Little Rock...stopped in East Texas for lunch at "Mi Casita" Mexican restaurant... and parked our "Casita" in front.

Friday...dawn on the Arkansas river.

This is the view we woke up to!


Coffee Friday morning and a sneak peak at the inside of our new Casita. I'll need to get my sister Joanne up here soon to help with the interior decorating!

Returned to find out that Nancy is still feeling miserable...anxious to go see her at MMC in the morning. Please keep her in your prayers.
p.s. Nancy - you've got to get well so we can do some fall camping together...why do you think we got a new camper that sleeps THREE???

Mom's home

All's well. Just need to spring Nancy now.
Andi

Hi from Virginia

Hank and I have finally stopped at a place with WiFi...writing this from a Starbucks in Staunton, Virginia at lunchtime on Saturday. Good flight to Dallas on Wednesday; just made it in before they closed Love Field due to thunderstorms. Picked up our new Casita early Thursday morning and just LOVE IT! Drove from Dallas to Little Rock Thursday afternoon...stopped for real Mexican food on the way at a restaurant called, of all things, La Casita. Food was great...the real thing. Spent Thursday night at a beautiful campground, Maumelle Park, on the Arkansas River just outside of Little Rock. Passed the Clinton Presidential Library but did not have time to stop. Yesterday we left Little Rock and drove through Memphis and Nashville, spending the night in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant just east of Knoxville, Tennessee. Cracker Barrel welcomes RVers overnight so we were not the only ones. With the Casita, we were very comfy and had breakfast this morning right there (grits, bisquits and gravy, etc...). Today traffic is light so our goal is to make it to Pennsylvania before stopping for the night.
p.s. Hank says that there are so many Christian radio stations down here that if he continues listening, and is reborn on every station, he'll be 25 before he hits the Pennsylvania line.
p.s. #2 More from Hank: "Should anyone need directions to any Cracker Barrel from Maine to Texas, give me a call."
p.s.#3 and even more from Hank: "The reason for so many Christian stations is that every other exit has a XXX Adult video and gift store."

Hi Nancy, Hope you are feeling better today. See you soon!

Update on Mom

She is in Room 701A and her phone is 207-662-7785

Mom also at MMC 9/3/2010

Just left Mom in the ER where she is waiting for a bed. Guess she really wanted to visit Nancy today so she called the ambulance for a ride to the hospital. Mom had a severe chest pain this AM. She is now feeling fine and all her tests are Okay so far. She will stay the night for observation and more blood work. She's been there so much, she knew the phlebotomist, Rocky, by name.

Will try to keep you posted under Nancy's name as I can't log in myself.
Andi

A Nancy Update: Friday 9/3/2010

A Nancy update
Nancy is still at MMC. Aaron has taken the week off to be with her as much as possible.

She has received several blood transfusions and is very fatigued. Nancy is scheduled to have both of her ureter stents replaced today in surgery. Hopefully this will make her feel better. Aaron has just reported to me that Nancy’ surgery is already over and was successful. The kidneys show no sign of tumors! Yeah!!!

For any of you who have not seen Nancy lately, she is also now a twig, with no meat on her bones. This is something the Stunning Smith Sisters would normally love, however, I now wish I could now give some of my extra poundage to Nancy. She has donated her "fat clothes" to me.

Nancy is trying to keep up her humor, despite a horrid roommate who will not share the bathroom and has Nancy going down the hall to shower and use the toilet.

Nancy needs our prayers to give her the strength to keep fighting and to stay strong. Please take a minute today to think of her.

She must be so tired of fighting this battle for 5 years. I know I couldn't handle this like she has. Guess we really can learn how to live from our "Little Sister". She is my hero.

Nancy will likely still be in the hospital through some of the weekend. Her number at MMC is 207-662-7701.

Nancy, you are my best friend, my childhood roommate and sparring partner, and I will love you forever. Keep fighting and eat!(as if Mom hasn't called to tell you to eat enough this week).

Andi

September is...

OVARIAN CANCER MONTH!
Wear teal this month to support ovarian cancer awareness.
To show your support for Nancy, Aunt Doris and other women with ovarian cancer, you could...

... wear your ovarian cancer awareness bracelet... Don't have one? Click here https://co.clickandpledge.com/advanced/default.aspx?wid=34702

...or button.
Or you could...

...bake some teal cupcakes to share at work

...paint your house teal

...or wear some teal lipstick!

You might also consider...

...riding a teal bike

...or investing in some teal underwear

You might also want to ...

...dye your hair teal...or maybe paint your fingernails ...

(Color is called "Teal the Cows Come Home")

and... don't forget your teal toes! http://www.tealtoes.org/

Let's each do our part to help make other women aware of the early symptoms of ovarian cancer this month...they are listed on the right side of this blog page. GO TEAL!!!

It's Back to MMC for Nancy

Just wanted to let everyone know that Nancy is back in Maine Medical Center. She was admitted yesterday through the ER with a multitude of symptoms and in quite a bit of pain which, stoic as she is, she had tried to live with since last Thursday. At first we thought that maybe one of her kidney stents had become dislodged but that is not the case. Seems she has a really bad urinary tract infection that may have spread to her blood; that will be ruled in or out after 48-72 hours. In the meantime, she is resting comfortably now (thanks to pain meds) and is receiving antibiotics through her port to kill off the infection. Both her oncologist, Dr. Small, and her urologst were in this morning and have assured her that this is not cancer related, so she is relieved. She doesn't want everyone to worry. She looks good, is comfortable and is resting in bed with her laptop and books. She'll need to take it easy and let the antibiotics do their work and then, hopefully, she'll be home again soon.

The doctors plan to replace her kidney stents, which is a routine procedure, but they will not do that until after the infection has completely cleared up...probably on an out-patient basis.

Nancy is in room 558A in the Gibson Paviliion; her bedside phone # is 297-662-7701.

On the Road to Texas

As many of you know, Hank is on the road to Texas. He left Thursday, August 26, and, with stops, plans to be there in time to pick me up at the airport in Dallas on the evening of Wednesday, September 1st. The "big event" - the delivery of our new (and long-awaited) Casita camper - will be on Thursday September 2nd. Then, Hank and I will begin the long drive back to Maine with our new Casita (the word "Casita" in Spanish means "little house"). We can't wait!

Hank stopped the first night in Pennsylvania, the second on the Virginia/West Virginia line, and the third (last night) in Nashville, Tennessee. Today he is taking a day off from driving to enjoy Nashville; he'll get back on the road to Dallas tomorrow, stopping overnight tomorrow (Monday) night in Little Rock, Arkansas.Hank has already called twice this mornng to share his excitement about being in Nashville. For those of you who don't know Hank very well, I should explain that he has always loved country music and knows all the words to the old country songs. (He keeps this pretty quiet but has has a good voice for country music; I love to hear him sing!) So...getting a chance to spend all day in Nashville today means a lot to him. The first time Hank called, he was at the Elvis Exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame.He just called again to say that he spent three hours at the Hall of Fame and loved it. This time, he was calling from B.B. King's Blues Club on Music Row. He was having a cup of gumbo, listening to live blues, and, I think pinching himself to make sure he was really there!

I'll try to add more "posts from the road" as Hank continues his journey and, with my laptop, as we drive home together through Arkansas, Tennessee, the Virginias, Pennsylvania, New York, and finally New England.

Home from Japan

I was so excited last night when the phone rang and a tired lttle voice said, "Hi, Nanny". It was Taka calling to tell us that he, Toshi, and Tomo had just gotten home from Japan. Taka was still confused about what time it was and whether he should go to bed or not...helping the boys adjust to the 11 hour time difference should make life interesting for Rob and Tomo for the next few days. Taka and Toshi spent the summer with their grandmother ("BaBa") Umeyo and their grandfather ("JiJi") Tokuhide in Wakayama, which is in southeastern Japan in the Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe area. And, they got back to Brooklyn just in time for "Dada's" birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROB!!!

Nancy

Lots of short posts tonight. I know that many of you are wondering how Nancy is doing so thought I should update the blog. It has been two weeks since Nancy's last chemo and she is scheduled for her next one on September 9th, two weeks from now. The side effect that has been the most difficult for her is fatigue. She tries to do what she has to do in the morning because she is usually drained by afternoon and has to rest. It's amazing, though, how she manages to keep going through it all. She has visited Mom in the hospital almost every day and spends a lot of time after that reading and resting on the couch. She still holds her title as the family's best cook and manages to bake when she has the energy...this week she made Grammy Boocock's favorite cake recipe and brought it in to Mom. Nancy continues to make us laugh out loud with her stories...her resilience is amazing!

the Cat with 9 Lives

Mom suggested the name for this post. She has been in the hospital for a week to have a cardiac catheterization and, yesterday, to have a stent placed in her heart. She is feeling much better after the procedure and, at 89, told me that she thinks of herself as the "cat with 9 lives". We're all very happy that this "cat" is feeling better and will be home soon. Way to go, Mom!